Weight Loss <> Weight Gain

I reckon I'll probably be asked about this one over and over again, so it seems the best choice for the first info-article. Weight loss and gain are the simplest and hardest things to do, that's why there's industries worth millions built up around them..diet clubs... weight gain formulas... lots and lots of money. So I'll boil the whole thing down for you, this is the simple bit :

To lose weight burn more calories than you take in each day
To gain weight take in more calories than you burn each day

Simple! Isn't it?

OK, so now it starts to get a bit harder. How do you do it? I'll split the two sections up, but overall what I will be talking about is lifestyle. Short term, quick fixes are only good for that the short term, and everything I want to talk about on this blog is long term.. hence How to Make You Better. Here we go...

WEIGHT LOSS

So, burn more calories than you take in, how do you do that? The best way is gradually, little steps, day by day, week by week, month by month..they all add up. So much of our culture is about immediate satisfaction, we want it now, but this isn't how our bodies work, and that's why diets fail.

To understand why, here's a little science (in plain english). Our bodies don't like change much, they try to maintain a set weight, and when we eat less to lose weight our bodies react by lowering the amount of calories our bodies burn. Which is why some commercial diets work by dropping the calorie intact you are allowed as your weight drops. Unfortunately when you eat "normally" again your lower calorie requirement means you put fat back on! On top of that you've probably lost muscle as well, and that's the bit of your body that burns the calories...double whammy!

So how do you get past that? Again the answer's fairly simple. You can get away with losing weight slowly as your body will allow it, but only one, or two, pounds per month. Can you imagine a big diet company advertising that? I doubt it, but that's the trick to long term weight loss. But, before you give up, there are ways to improve that. Well one way really - exercise!

Exercise makes you burn more calories, not just while you exercise, but for up to 15 hours after. It can also help you keep the muscle you need to keep burning those calories!

What exercise should you do? Anything you want! Don't force yourself to do anything you hate, because you won't keep it up. Don't worry about doing the latest fad exercise class, if you enjoy walking, just get out for a walk. Or if that's all your fitness level will allow - just go for it.

By now you should have an idea that I don't like fads, gimmicks, quick fixes etc. Nice simple answers are the best ones.

So to sum up, to lose weight, just eat a little less, and do a bit more!! More detail and info on the tricks and methods later.

WEIGHT GAIN

Well if read all the above you can probably guess some of this answer, but in case you skipped down here, here goes.

A lot of people don't get the difficulties of gaining weight, it's usually faced with comment like "God, you're so lucky, you can anything you want, you lucky..." etc. But for those who are unhappy being thin it can be a real nightmare. Strangly enough the same mechanism in our bodies stops people putting weight on as losing weight, it just depends on you, your genetics, and your diet. As noted above our bodies like to maintain the same weight, and you can only trick it gradually, no more than one or two pounds a month.

So how do you put weight on? Well for starters, don't go force feeding yourself, you won't be able to keep it up, or possibly down!! A gradual increase in calories is the key.

Should you exercise if you're trying to gain weight? A tricky one this, as to be honest the answer is you shouldn't, however this isn't healthy, so I would say exercise, but try to do as little as possible. This counts at all times, sit instead of standing, lie down instead of sitting, and so on.

Summing up, to gain weight eat a bit more, and exercise less.


Both of these strategies require patience, you're in this for the long haul, but the fact is, the slower the change, the better you'll keep it.